Cat characteristics….

Hey all! I got another cat question.

How many people have seen or caught a flathead with a forked whisker. I mean a long “Y” at the end?

I’ve only been around this great catfish game for a couple years and my experience is very minimal. Aint had enough exposure to a landed flat to be any judge if it’s a uncommon thing or not.

I was out with WWG and his 46″er had a forked right hand whisker. I aint never seen that before. So when I asked BK and Larry they’ve said they have seen it before but mentioned maybe post it here and ask.

**raises hand**

Interesting post
** Raises Hand twice**
Makes you wonder about genetics… Or Deformities.
I would think of this as step in the evolutionary ladder…. A very small one. If the Y whisker trait as I call it means increased sensory perception on the part of the fish…. It might allow them to forage better or evade possible danger. Something along the lines of the stronger or faster surviving.
Good topic Dan!

I caught 2 different fish, one two times. One might have been the fish Larry and BK caught last year… it seemed possble because it was the same area several years apart.. but it was much bigger when they got it.

Lots of imperfections in mother nature. I have caught plenty of fish missing fins(didnt look like they ever had the fin), others missing eyes with perfect skin over them. Why not a split/forked whisker?

I have gotten a couple bullies with forked wiskers but never a cat.

I throw back anything with two tails …two heads…or an odd number of eyes.

Fish mutate pretty readily. At least that’s my experience raising tropical fish. It might also be a recessive trait from way back. Perhaps flatheads and other cats had forked whiskers in the past? Or they could be going the way Larry points out, towards forked whiskers. Since whiskers are a unique feature, I bet they readily mutate and are a feature that is dependent on many different gene combinations or have many different variations in the population, like say human eye color. We notice the fork because it is obvious, but there might be other subtle differences and differences that only a cat would know like how variations in sensitivity.

Oh, how many have I seen? none. Haven’t really looked either. Pretty cool to see in a photograph though.

EDIT: Had another thought. Has anyone seen a smaller one, say under 10#s with a forked whisker? I wonder if it is something that comes with age sometimes, kind of like how Brian has whiskers growing out of his ears.

Anyone notice pugs forked tongue??

Ps I’ve only seen the one when I was out with Larry.